BORN NOT TO DIE

Madhouses and jailhouses where I shined Empty apartment beds where I pined, O desolate rooms! My green valentine, Where is the heart in which you were outlined? // writer - critic - mostly offline

[oldpaintings]

God’s Year by Piotr Stachiewicz (Polish, 1858–1938)

[bornnottodie]

Jane Dickson Heading in – Lincoln Tunnel 3 2003

Oil on Astroturf

Overall: 33 × 46 × 2 3/8in. (83.8 × 116.8 × 6 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Eve Ahearn and Joseph Ahearn

[bornnottodie]

A bunch of people are tagging the astroturf thing with surprise, so here's a little bit about why astroturf:

Jane Dickson could not afford a traditional canvas to paint this painting on, so she painted it on astroturf, which was cheaper/she found discarded. At least that's what I remember. Essentially, this was as much a decision driven by material need as by conception.

[fierce-little-miana]

I know I know, from an outsider perspective the robbery at the Louvre might, especially considering how basic the plan was (no high-tech devices or anything) seem funny. But frankly it is a catastrophe.

The pieces that were stolen are among the very few (for a European collection) pieces of French royal jewelry remaining in public collections in France, and are more likely than not going to be dismantled for their gems really fast so lost forever. Their historical and cultural value is incalculable, because, again, we simply do not have a lot of French royal jewelry.

Even most worryingly, the Louvre which is the biggest museum in the world and one (if not the) most visited museum, is probably the French museum making the most money (sorry for the link to the Figaro, but this article is in fact full of interesting data). That such a theft can happen at the Louvre probably means that all the collections presented in French public museums are in danger of being robbed.

And lo and behold, this theft is taking place in a context in which several French public museums have been the victims of robbery! This is of course linked to the ever decreasing money afforded to conservation in this country, because culture, art, history and preserving all three of those is of course not important enough to be properly financed. Do you think the Louvre getting robbed of such important pieces in such a ridiculous way is going to change things? Absolutely not! Public heritage is going to keep disappearing in private collections or simply through poor conservation, because our public power do not deem that important enough.

[marzipanandminutiae]

another thing I've seen: "who cares about a bunch of sparkly rocks belonging to royals?"

I care about the work of incredibly skilled artists that can teach us so much about their methods and lives and world being taken away from the public

I think you spelled it wrong there :)

[museeeuuuum]

I think it's also important to note that this is happening just a few months after the Louvre staff walked out, citing concerns of overtourism, under-resourcing, and understaffing. As OP said, we need to properly fund museums, or this is going to just keep happening

The Louvre, plagued by overtourism, shuts its doors to visitors as workers strike | CBC News

The Louvre, the world's most-visited museum and a global symbol of art, beauty and endurance, remained shuttered Monday — not by war but by

[bornnottodie]

Jane Dickson Heading in – Lincoln Tunnel 3 2003

Oil on Astroturf

Overall: 33 × 46 × 2 3/8in. (83.8 × 116.8 × 6 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Eve Ahearn and Joseph Ahearn

[fromdarzaitoleeza]

{Words by Anaïs Nin, from The Diary Of Anais Nin, Vol. 4 (1944-1947) / Cynthia Cruz from diagnosis,The glimmering room}

[bornnottodie]

Allen Ginsberg, Death To Van Gogh’s Ear!

Paris, December 1957

[bornnottodie]

Allen Ginsberg, Death To Van Gogh’s Ear!

Paris, December 1957

[bornnottodie]

I’m gonna start this challenge where I commit to writing 2k words every day for a whole year (adds up to 750,000 words) because I need to jump start my novel writing career (it’s actually embarrassing to tell people I’m a “writer” when I don’t even write and also I need a reason to stay unemployed) so stay tuned for that. I’m seriously going to commit to it.

[homunculus-argument]

One of my biggest pet peeves is that somehow I seem to be the only person in the world who means it when I say I'm down for whatever. Like just name whatever you want, I swear on my soul my comfort zone is bigger than yours. I'm fine with sitting at home drinking tea and playing board games, going out and ending up snorting lines off a park bench with 14 strangers at 3 AM, going to national theatre to see their production of La Traviata, sitting outside a grocery store watching pigeons fight over french fries, I'm 100% down. Just tell me how to dress for the occasion and I'll be there.

And then people are like "nooooo I don't wanna take charge just you decide uwu" and that's essentially a code for "I don't want to tell you what I am capable and willing to do, I want you to guess what I want to do, and I'm not giving you a clue because I don't know either", and then they insist that they're not, they're down for anything too, and it's like bitch we both know that one of us is lying and that person isn't me.

I'm down for anything except ice fishing, cat-calling and sports events. I might make an exception for some sport that seems fun and interesting, but I'm not sitting through an entire hockey game. Like those are my limits, just fucking pick something.

[homunculus-argument]

no back up that sounds lit, I'm in

[louisinart-like-cuisinart]

Anyway if you see this you have to reblog and tag with a delight from ur day -- even the littlest thing counts

[lesbianboyfriend]

the best part about having a job is being able to go through doors other people aren’t allowed to use the worst part is everything else

[museeeuuuum]

Especially applies to museums

[bornnottodie]

when I was volunteering in cataloguing for a museum i discovered that the “priceless ethnographic artefacts” are just held in this musty back room filled with spiderwebs and moss (???) and when I asked if that’s normal the museum director straight up was like “oh yeah we just haven’t gotten around to hiring someone to clean this up” like what are you even doing ??

Then they asked me how good I am at polishing silver and jewellery restoration when they KNEW I am a theoretical researcher

Genuinely most confusing experience of my life I can’t believe they’re a real institution

[cultcieht]

[redrola]